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Monday, October 31. 2011GN 70104 Update - October 26-30, 2011In between the demands of all the other projects, I have managed to sneak in more work on our Great Northern hopper car lettering.  Reporting Marks The reporting marks have been applied to the right side, showing the car's true identity for the first time at IRM.  The Last Large N Dan Fenlaciki helped on this project all day Sunday, seen here peeling off some masking used on the final "N".  Northern It is pretty tough to get a good image inside the barn with no elbow room to stand back and admire the work. But NORTHERN is indeed completed on one side.  Great Northern Here is an overall view of the banner lettering proudly displaying the railroad name. This is a lot of hand painting and most of these letters have received the second coat of white. Monday, October 31. 2011B&O Wagon Top Update - October 29, 2011This was another of the Freight Car Department 'milestone' goals accomplished, as each year we race the calendar to beat old man winter.  Long View Buzz Morisette, Bob Kutella, and Victor Humphreys are on the roof of this boxcar, to spray paint the first coat of finish enamel on the roof, thus protecting the primer from the ravages of oncoming winter.  Finishing Up Buzz and Victor are at the A end, finishing up the tough areas around the roofwalk and laterals.  Big Change It was a very long day for the three of us, but here is the result. A very big change in appearance for anyone tall enough to see it. In this one season, about half the area of the boxcar sides, ends and roof have been restored, primed and painted! Monday, October 31. 2011CTS 4223 Update - October 26-30, 2011 Front End Lorne Tweed continued working on the interior of the front end so that all work in this area is ready for the new windows. Metal repairs, priming and painting are done now.  Rear Clamshell Alex Randow was too quick for my camera as he completed removing all old paint, sanding metal surfaces smooth, and priming of this large piece.  Window Post Caps Ed Grzesik and Rod Turner are working on the window post caps, parts that need to be repaired to complete side window installation. Here is one that has had new metal welded in place after removing rusted out sections.  More Windows Nancy Ring has taken on the challenge of cleaning up old corrosion on the side window sash. So far, there has not proven to be an easy way of doing this. Instead, a lot of painstaking hand work is required. Monday, October 31. 2011News and Views - October 29-30, 2011 More Windows Rich Witt is putting the finishing touches on the fourth CA&E window he has reconditioned. Next job? Bring it on!  More Windows Tim Peters completed the planned window change out for CRT 1268. Here he going through the process of fitting and trimming each sash to the opening.  Steam at IRM Ray Schmid and Jeff Brady are manning a home made steam generator as Ray slides in a wood slat for the end roof of Michigan Electric 28. Some of the curves on the end cannot be bent without this additional step.  Needle Chipping Frank Sirinek has gone quietly about his business; largely staying beneath the radar as he restores Kansas City Public Service 755. A lot of the windows have recently been changed out, and there is remarkable progress on the interior painting and finish work. Cold temperatures, strong winds, and a steady drizzle which became a downpour did not discourage Frank from using a needle chipper to remove paint from two more interior panels.  End Gate Roger Kramer was on hand in the shop, cleaning up a passenger car end gate for the Pullman Car John Mc Loughlin, to be primed and painted. Thursday, October 27. 2011Steam Report - October 22, 2011ASSOCIATE CORRESPONDENT Nigel Bennett sent in this report. Note: He has been promoted from cub reporter to associate correspondent. Work on Frisco 1630 (2-10-0) has continued the last couple of weekends. The job of knocking out the old tube ends has progressed steadily thanks to the efforts of Collin, Jason, and particularly new volunteer Chris who contacted us through the BLOG and visited last Saturday with his brother Eric. Through their combined efforts we now have about 2/3 of the plus 200 tube ends removed from the front tube sheet - so about 1/3 of the total.  Front Tube Sheet That is Collin wearing the green hat with white polka dots. The next sequence of photos show how it works with Collin inside the boiler with a pneumatic chisel collapsing the tube plug that was left when the tube was cut out. These three pics show one tube in particular on its way out. Can you sharp eyed viewers spot which one?  Plug in Place  Plug Coming Out  Gone In this last shot Chris and Eric demonstrate what a day in the boiler can do for you!! Thanks guys - that was probably a record first day in the Steam Shop!!  Dynamic Duo In parallel with this Bob and I have largely stripped the boiler back head fittings and lagging to give access to the firebox for testing. Mike, Bob and others have now removed all but two of the rivets that must be taken out to allow the area of the patch to the firebox corner to have the steel removed and replaced. Nigel Bennett Thursday, October 27. 2011GN 70104 Update - October 26, 2011PARTY HEARTY!  The Gang We celebrated the milestone event of getting this car sandblasted and painted with a shop luncheon. THANKS TO EVERYONE. Lots of the volunteers helped on this, and none of the others were left out. The highlight of the lunch was 7 pints of gourmet ice cream donated by the local CULVER'S. Just think - pizza and ice cream. All of the five basic food groups were covered.  Trucks Ray Pollice started the process of cleaning the truck sideframes a few weeks ago, and Victor Humphreys added his efforts. Then it was time to apply primer.  Old Grime Nancy Ring is convalescing from a recent hospital procedure. What is the best way to do that? Come on out to IRM and wield a power wire brush to clean a truck on the hopper!  Reporting Marks I managed a little more painting on the hopper, adding this block of lettering for the reporting marks. We also added a second coat of white to more of the previous GREAT NORTHERN large letters. Thursday, October 27. 2011News and Views - October 26, 2011 Display Henry Vincent continues to work on the display for a vintage Pennsylvania Railroad sign/mural. Rich Witt was helping Henry trim the large item. The rest of the day, Rich worked on priming several windows for CA&E 36.  Barn 4 Visitor Lat Sunday CRT 1268 was operating, providing rides for our visitors. Now it is visiting Barn 4 for a change of all of its windows, backdating to an older style. Our resident guru of wood rapid transit cars, Tim Peters, has a new set of windows already produced for the change. The current 1268 windows will find a new home in CRT 1797. |
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Comments
Sun, 05-20-2012 17:31
I would like to make a note of a couple of things. The sandblasting process involves taking the sand like material, called blackblast, and smashing it [...]
Fri, 05-18-2012 22:48
This is one interesting freight car. I've been browsing images on-line of these B&O wagon-top cars lately, and noticed a variety of lettering and [...]
Fri, 05-18-2012 12:03
Mark, Its hard to say if 760 will be running in early July. It will be for Diesel Days, but I can't answer yet if we'll have it ready sooner than [...]
Thu, 05-17-2012 13:13
Im going to drive from California to the Chicago area in early July and staying for about 3 weeks. Im a big fan of FM units. Any chance the MILW 760 [...]
Sun, 05-13-2012 11:44
Line sidewalks and steets with rail ties and fill with small pea gravel. Similar to construction near Lincoln Home in Springfield, IL.
Fri, 05-11-2012 10:45
Thank you. If you are send pics to Irm in mail,Please make it attention Roger Kramer. Thanks..
Thu, 05-10-2012 17:08
I will be sending some color photos of the CGW 285 shortly after rebuilding by the CGW. And yes, they had chrome grabs and the end gate. I had been [...]
Thu, 05-10-2012 12:58
Yes there are some chrome plated partsespecially on the sissors gate. Unfortunately, they were recently taken off, and left in the gravel. I have [...]
Thu, 05-10-2012 00:46
The book "Chicago Great Western Color Guide" (Morning Sun) has some interesting notes about these CGW combines: [BEGIN QUOTE] "In 1954 the CGW bought [...]
Sun, 05-06-2012 21:42
Nigel, What you just told me is great news. YOU clarified things for me.
Sun, 05-06-2012 20:34
Wally, I must say that I am puzzled by this comment. The whole driver for the current work is the major FRA mandated inspection (15 year 1472 [...]
Sun, 05-06-2012 16:39
I am just afraid that by the time 1630 is up and ready to run, it will have to be dismantled again to do the Federally mandated inspection. I am [...]